Anger over Executions Fuels Protests in Iran

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Anger over Executions Fuels Protests in Iran

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Night demonstrations flared up in several Iranian cities, hours after the execution of two protesters, and amid international condemnation of Iranian authorities.

Iran’s judiciary announced on Sunday jail terms of up to 10 years for people who called for strikes as part of a month-long protest movement. Four Iranians have been convicted against the background of inciting a strike by truck drivers.

Media outlets also reported on authorities convicting Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former lawmaker, and the daughter of former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

On Sunday evening, anti-regime demonstrations resurged in the Sattar Khan neighborhood at the heart of the capital, Tehran.

The day before, Iranian protesters took to the streets in 20 of Tehran’s neighborhoods against authorities executing Mehdi Karami and Sayed Mohammad Hosseini.

They chanted anti-establishment slogans like “Death to Khamenei,” “We do not want the government that kills children,” “Death to the Basij,” and “Death to the Revolutionary Guards.”

Protesters also warned that “poverty, corruption and hiked prices” were driving them harder towards overthrowing the regime.

A group of protesters took to the streets in the cities of Karaj and Arak, according to videos shared on social media.

A group of women demonstrated in the city of Najafabad in Isfahan province on Sunday. They chanted slogans condemning the regime, according to a video clip posted on Twitter.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) published a video showing strikes in the market of the Kurdish city of Saqqez.

Karami and Hosseini were hanged to death after hasty trials on charges that they participated in the killing of a member of the Basij paramilitary group in November.

These executions drew widespread international condemnation and brought up the number of executions in connection to the protests to four.

A previous execution of Iranians in December sparked domestic and international outrage and the imposition of new Western sanctions on Iran.



Trump Says He Is Less Confident about Iran Nuclear Deal 

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after arriving on Air Force One, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP)
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after arriving on Air Force One, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP)
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Trump Says He Is Less Confident about Iran Nuclear Deal 

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after arriving on Air Force One, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP)
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after arriving on Air Force One, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP)

US President Donald Trump said he was less confident that Iran will agree to stop uranium enrichment in a nuclear deal with Washington, according to an interview released on Wednesday. 

"I don’t know," Trump told the "Pod Force One" podcast on Monday when asked if he thought he could get Iran to agree to shut down its nuclear program. "I don’t know. I did think so, and I’m getting more and more — less confident about it." 

Trump has been seeking a new nuclear deal to place limits on Iran's nuclear activities and has threatened Tehran with bombing if no agreement is reached. 

He told reporters at the White House on Monday that he had discussed Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday and said talks with Iranians were "tough." 

In the podcast interview, Trump said Iranians seem to be using delaying tactics. 

"I’m less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago. Something happened to them, but I am much less confident of a deal being made," he said. 

Trump repeated that the US would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, whether or not a deal is reached. 

"But it would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying, it’s so much nicer to do it. But I don’t think I see the same level of enthusiasm for them to make a deal," he said. 

Iran says it has no plans to build a nuclear weapon and is only interested in power generation and other peaceful projects. 

During his first White House term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed limits on Tehran's disputed nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.